All to Him I Owe

We just finished our 2011 Missions Conference here at FBC. Throughout this past week, I have been amazed at the amount of questions I was asked concerning the “why” behind our conference. The “why” was not “why are we having a missions conference.” The “why” was “why are we doing it the way we did?”

For some in our church this was the first time they had ever seen a missions conference. For others this was a different way than they were used to. So, in a few paragraphs let me explain the three key philosophies behind the “why” of our missions conference.

1. We used the missions conference to inform and update us about missions not to motivate us to do missions. Here at FBC our congregation is excited about missions and missionaries. There is not a need to bring a special speaker in to motivate us to do  more, we are excited about missions and actively trying to do more. That is an evidence of God’s work in hearts. When people are receiving the gospel, giving the gospel, and living in light of the gospel you will find that missions mindedness is a natural result. So, instead of attempting to motivate us we choose to let the missionaries simply share their ministries, their stories, and their testimonies. We didn’t have a special speaker. Our speakers were our missionaries. We left this week with a personal glimpse into the lives of these men and women. We left with a sense of their burdens, and a knowledge of God’s call on their lives. Armed with this knowledge we are better prepared to be a genuine help to the missionaries we support.

2. We conducted a missions conference that was missionary friendly not church oriented. There is a tendency among some missions conferences to plan a week based upon what a church likes, or wants to do and then impose that upon the missionaries in attendence. It is not unusual for missionaries to leave conferences exhausted because of an intense schedule and hard tasks required of them. As we planned the week we sought to create a schedule that gave missionaries a break and allowed them to enjoy the week. Each missionary had one service they were responsible for and then they were able to just relax and enjoy all the rest of the services. One neat aspect you would have seen in the services was a time of “gift-giving.” We sought to shower each missionary with tangible, and financial gifts to put the focus on them! Three times during the week there were aspects scheduled just to help and encourage the missionaries. There was no question as we left this week that our missionaries were the focus of our week.

3. We attempted to treat our missionaries as individuals not as a part of the whole. One of our missionaries this week shared a story about an experience he had recently. He said that a church they were at was giving all of the missionaries new shoes. So, even though he had just recently received two new pairs of shoes he was told he needed another pair. He shared with me that if he had been able to he would have asked for a couple of new ties. His were thread bare and showing stains. Instead of treating him like an individual with individual needs he was treating as one of many. This last week we went individual. We tried to think individually about each missionary and to try and help them. Each service was different because each missionary who presented was different.

I’m already making plans for our 2012 Missions Conference. There is a special blessing that comes from ministering to God’s servants. I try to remember it this way, “God’s work is increased when God’s workers are encouraged.” I firmly believe we encouraged God’s workers this week!